


The Day They Came

by Iced_Koffi



Series: My Rewritten Old Shit [1]
Category: Lego Ninjago
Genre: F/M, Help, I rewrote an old fanifc from when I was 12, Is this how I tag, My First AO3 Post, also big bad swears, and Zane is group dad, idk - Freeform, if u want the original lmk ig, this is the result, yea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-04
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:54:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22108162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iced_Koffi/pseuds/Iced_Koffi
Summary: Basically the ninja do something nice for their friend and Kai and her get closer. There's a douchebag in here who is kinda ungrateful and that's about it.
Relationships: Kai/Original Character(s)
Series: My Rewritten Old Shit [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1591579
Kudos: 1





	The Day They Came

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, so... This is one of the very first things I've ever written, rewritten to make it less cringey and make more sense. 
> 
> And now almost nothing is the same. 
> 
> So.... Yeah. This is my first time posting a completed fic anywhere people can, like, read it. I'm super fucking nervous but ya know it's whatever. Hopefully this blows over well. Thanks for reading btw. Ok I'll shut up now

"Hey, we've got a surprise for you, Chelsea." Cole knocked on her door until she cracked it slightly and poked her head out.

"What is it?" She asked sleepily.

"Come and see." He replied. I could hear the annoying amusement in his voice.

"That's not an answer." She acknowledged.

"If I tell you, it's not a surprise." He shot back with triumphant smirk plastered on his face. The two of them stared in silence for a moment, as if they were scoping each other out, before Chelsea sighed in defeat and walked out of her room.

I closed the door to the hallway before she could see I was watching.

'They're coming!' I mouthed to Zane. He ran over to a small drawer before coming back with 5 chain necklaces, each one the color of our suits and elements. Until recently, I couldn't figure out why Chelsea was so pissy all the time. Ever since I've joined the ninja, all she's done is complain and whine and isolate herself. I mean, she's a team player all the same, but "friendly" isn't a word I'd use to describe her. Then, out of nowhere really, she explained everything about how it's been bugging her to not see her family and some of the mental issues she has to deal with. Ever since she's got it off her chest, Chelsea's been a lot sweeter and more social, but I could see some of it was just a farce. She was always so stiff and awkward, like one wrong move would push us all away. Seeing her so anxious all the time, I kind of felt bad for her.

"What is it?!" Chelsea asked, well more like screamed, while walking into the room with Cole's arms around her. The sight bothered me.

"Blech." All eyes went to me and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Come on, Romeo, get in line…" I gestured towards his spot in between Zane and Jay. Cole walked over blushing and glared at me as if I said something wrong.

'What?' I mouthed, shrugging.

"Okay, now I'm really lost." Chelsea muttered. Her eyes darted nervously between the five of us with a confused smile on her face. I spoke first, ready to put my practice to work.

"Now that we know why you've been so down." I started.

"And you've been an awesome person to hang with." Cole continued. Chelsea's slight chuckle caused me to smile too.

"Should I like where this is going?" She asked.

"Yes." We all answered at once.

"Okay, so we thought and thought and thought. And thought and thought. Then thought some more… and a little more after th-"

"Until…" Zane interrupted Jay, "...We decided to get you these." Zane finished, holding out his pearl-chained necklace. We all held out our jewelry to where she could see. By now her eyes were watery and her hands clasped gently over her mouth. The first thing she did, which surprised us all, was hug Jay.

"You all remind me so much of my family." She softly sobbed on Jay's shoulder. Jay and I had a brief moment of eye contact, his eyes questioning while mine unsure, before he awkwardly patted Chelsea on her back.

"You even look like him…" she softly spoke.

"A-are you ok?" Cole asked.

Chelsea pulled herself off the still wildly confused Jay and wiped her eyes. "Yeah…" Her voice was so soft; I could barely hear it. We all kind of stood there uncomfortably, not knowing what to do to bring up her spirits. Someone knocked on our front door. I'd completely forgotten about the little extra surprise we planned for tonight.

"You should go get that." I told Chelsea. She looked at the door, then me, and then the door again.

"O...okay?" Her guard was high, walking to the door as if she was expecting a knife to stab her the moment she opened it. She turned the doorknob slowly, and cracked the door open even slower, but when she finally caught a glimpse of what was on the other side, her legs gave way, and she was on her knees, crying all over again.

A group of children of various ages stood in the hallway trying to get in, vocally confused, but Chelsea's body blocked the door. I had to actually walk over, pick her up and move her out of the way so that our guests could come inside. They all entered hesitant at first, scoping out our apartment and the people inside it, before running excitedly over to greet Chelsea, who I just set back on the floor. She weakly wrapped as many kids into her arms as possible and continued to bawl uncontrollably. One boy, the oldest of the group named Chet, walked up to us ninja after getting his hug from Chelsea.

"Hey, thanks again for letting us come over here. I know you guys probably have busy schedules being ninja and all." He smiled gratefully, but his posture seemed a bit rigid, a bit tense, as if he was ready for an emergency at any moment. I suppose I understood. He was the only one to come on the multiple visits to the apartment with his directress, Ms. Mosley, when the four of us told them about our plan to have the kids visit Chelsea. Obviously, they wanted to scope out the place before sending a bunch of children there. And even with us ninja being well known in Ninjago, you can't trust everything you see in the news. Well, that's what Ms. Mosley said anyways.

"It's no problem. Chelsea's been really missing you guys, and we just wanted to cheer her up. Relax man; nothing's gonna happen." Jay gave the teen a hearty pat on the arm and earned a more relaxed smile in return.

I noticed Chelsea rising to her feet and hurrying to the bathroom with her hand over her face. The children's laughter as she quickly closed the door behind her brought our attention back to the group behind us. Lloyd had already abandoned us to go get to know the other kids his age, one girl even brave enough to try and flirt. He seemed flattered at least, but immediately ran off to play video games with the boys. The oldest orphan did his best to hold in his laughter and went to console the young girl's broken heart. Well, I say that, but quite honestly she seemed unfazed by being blown off, simply flipping her blazing red hair and going to talk to one of her three twin siblings.

Everyone had fallen into their own activities by the time Chelsea stepped out of the bathroom, her face cleaned and nose blown. She wasted no time catching up with all of the kids in their own quirky way: playing board and video games, doing hair, play wrestling (she'd always let the kids win), anything they wanted to do, she joined in with just as much enthusiasm as them. It was actually really weird seeing her have so much genuine fun. Even as the night was dying down and everything got calmer, she would do little things that were so out of place for her, like singing sentences randomly or creating her own sound effects for mundane tasks. It was almost comical how vastly she changed in just a few hours.

By the time midnight fell, the air mattresses were blown up and the sleeping bags were passed out. It took some time and a lot of ass kissing to convince Ms. Mosley to let the kids spend the night so that Chelsea could wake up to them the next day. Everyone was knocked out in the living room with the exception of my friends, who were passed out in their rooms, and Chet who stood alone in the kitchen with a glass of water. Chelsea was spread across the couch with a small red-headed boy snuggled to her chest. Chet seemed lost in his own world while blatantly staring at her sleeping form.

"Hey." I muttered softly as I grabbed a can of soda from the fridge. He jumped at the sound of my voice before slowly relaxing again.

"Yeah?" He tried to sound casual like he wasn't just scared out of trance.

"How old are you, man?" I responded, quite honestly wondering something totally different. I really wanted to know why he wouldn't stop staring at Chelsea. It was making me uneasy.

"Eighteen." He answered, "I'm gonna marry Chelsea."

"W-what??" That came out of nowhere.

"That woman right there is gonna be my wife." He pointed at Chelsea with the utmost confidence.

"I… okay??" I didn't know how else to respond to that. I mean, how could I? It wasn't like I could tell him if it was or wasn't going to happen. That was rude and could easily cause problems. But even if I did have something to say, it wouldn't have made a difference. Chet was already back to staring at her dreamily.

"She ran away when we were sixteen. We all thought she was dead until we saw her in the news as "the wind ninja" almost a year later. Everyday after that I watched the news in hopes to see more stories about her. And I did. I saw so many stories on her. And in every interview, every photo, every witness video, you were always, always, right next to her. It was always you. I wanted to know who you were, what you'd done to deserve such an honor. I was never able to find anything." He was looking at me now, the dream in his eyes replaced with a vast emptiness as if his eyes had been hollowed out and nothing was placed back inside. His voice was disturbingly calm, "I hate privileged bastards like you. You get everything handed to you at your feet and you don't even take the time to look at what's been given to you. It should've been me all these years standing next to her. Not you. Never you."

With each passing word, my blood boiled more and more. As if this kid knew shit about me, who I was or where I came from. Privileged. I'll fucking show him privilege. "Who the hell do you-?!" I was cut short by the sound of Chelsea lazily rising off the couch and yawning. The boy in her arms mumbled before climbing into the imprint of Chelsea's silhouette imbedded into the couch.

"Hey losers." She spoke softly as her voice went in and out with sleep. I remained silent, too heated to give out niceties.

"Hello, my love." Chet smiled sweetly at her, seemingly oblivious to my unwavering glare. Chelsea, on the other hand, couldn't seem to look away.

"What's wrong?" The tiredness in her voice was forcefully pushed aside by her worry. I only took a second to glance at her before my focus went back to the boy next to me, his eyes also on me now. He didn't seem apologetic or concerned about the things he'd said. No, he had the gall to look annoyed. Fucking _annoyed_ like I had ruined a precious moment between them or some shit. I couldn't hold back the growl that boiled in the back of my throat even though I tried.

A dainty hand rested itself on my arm just shy of my shoulder. I looked down and Chelsea was suddenly right there in front of me. I hadn't noticed her make her way around the counter and to my side, but I was grateful for her genuine concern. It calmed me down, if only a little bit.

"What happened? You can talk to me about what's upsetting you, Kai. We're family too, you know." Her hand barely grazing my arm grounded itself more securely on my skin as if those words were more reassurance for her than for me. We stared for a moment as I debated on whether or not to indulge in Chelsea's offer. Her determined expression stayed unmoving like I was staring at a picture rather than a person. It was a kind of funny looking face though and forced a soft chuckle out of me.

I let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through my hair before finally coming to a decision, "It's nothing. I'm over it now." That wasn't entirely true. I was still pissed, but at least I wasn't about to fight over this stupid kid's shit anymore.

Chelsea observed my features quietly before stepping back and pulling her hand away hesitantly. The spot her hand left behind felt colder than before. "Okay…" She muttered, "But if it happens again you can still talk to me." With a certain elegance I've only ever noticed on the battlefield, she stepped past me and to the refrigerator, grabbing a soda before leaving the kitchen all together.

Silently, she moved past and in between all of the sleeping bags and air mattresses until she was in the doorway to the hall. Before passing through, she stopped and looked at me one last time, "And Kai? Thank you. For bringing them, this means the world to me." Then she was gone.

"Privileged..." Chet bitterly spat under his breath as he snatched my still unopened soda and walked away, the crack and sizzle of an opening can lost in the darkness.

The next morning, the smell of pancakes and bacon eggs filled my nose. I was a bit surprised since, as far as I know, Zane had to leave for work that morning. I walked to the kitchen, expecting to see Zane but instead saw Chelsea. I mean, Zane was there too, but seeing Chelsea cook was unexpected. They happily chatted while Zane whisked the batter and Chelsea cooked eggs, both laughing all the while. I probably would've been able to make out what they were saying if it weren't for the kids gathered around the table with way too much energy so early in the morning. Even Lloyd was awake, chatting with one of slightly older boys. Chet seemed irritated, for some ungodly reason I'm sure, as he waited silently for food to be served. He noticed me noticing him, and his sour mood multiplied tenfold. Seeing me snicker at him didn't help things either, but fuck him. He was a bitch anyway.

"Morning, guys." I was greeting Zane and Chelsea more than the kids, but they all happily replied back anyways.

Chelsea popped her head back past Zane to properly look at me. I took the time to take in her details. Her platinum white hair was down in braided twin tails, a vast change from the usual elegant braided bun I've come to associate with her. Along with the new look, she branded a smile of true childlike zest, her uncharacteristic energy levels apparent on her face, "Morning, love! You've come just in time. Could you go grab Cole and Jay from their rooms, please? There won't be anything left if they sleep in. It's a first come, first serve world today." She giggled and threw me a playful wink before going back to the task at hand, pouring steamy eggs into the ridiculously sized pile of already finished eggs next to her.

I ducked out of there before anyone could notice the blood rushing to my face. But based off the obnoxious coos and childish giggles that trailed behind me, I doubt I succeeded.

When I reached the hallway, Cole was already on his way out, almost bumping into me. He noticed my face being redder than usual, and asked me if I was okay. I did my best to play off my lingering flustered state with a joke, but it landed flat. Luckily, he didn't press me about it. However, I could still feel his eyes staring at me as I hurried to get to Jay's room. I knocked unmercifully on Jay's door, laughing at the tired cries that rang on the other side.

"Get up, dude! Chelsea isn't saving breakfast for anyone!" I informed him loudly. I could somehow hear the crinkle of Jay's bed over his incessant whining, then a hard thump and groan before the whining continued almost immediately after. That ended up being funnier than I expected and had me laughing while I opened the door. Just as I had predicted, Jay was a puddle of blue covers on the floor, holding onto his side and still squealing unsatisfyingly. I made my way over to him and none too gently pushed him onto his back with my foot. It instantly shut him up. He stared at me emotionless, like a man on his deathbed, and with his voice croaky from sleep, asked me for one final request.

"Can you bring me breakfast…?" I gave an honest salute and headed back to grab some food for the poor dying soul. In the kitchen, everyone had their heads down while all holding hands, and the youngest girl was in the middle of a prayer. I carefully approached the kitchen entry and waited until the crowd harmonized a resounding 'Amen' and began to unceremoniously dig into the giant pile of food resting in the middle of the table. A large round of praise for Chelsea's and Zane's cooking was given after everyone had their first bites, and it had them both blushing. It was actually really cute, but I wasn't going to say that.

Chelsea didn't stay to eat and stopped to give me a quick hug on the way out of the kitchen. "I know I already said it before, but thank you so much." She whispered to me before letting go and leaving. It surprised me a little, but I figured she would be the same as she was before these kids came after they left, and this was just her gratitude talking. I plucked a plate from the counter and grabbed a bit of everything available: pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Before I could bring Jay his food, someone grabbed my pajama bottoms.

"Thank you, Mr. Kai!" The flirtatious redhead girl, who I learned was named Lexi, shouted as she ate her eggs.

"Don't talk with your mouth full. That's gross." Her twin sister ordered. Lexi simply pouted but complied.

I smiled and replied, "It was no trouble. I'm just glad you guys get see Chelsea again." All the kids smiled and laughed like they knew something.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Lloyd chuckled mischievously as he bit into his bacon. These kids have only been here for a day and they've already infected our green ninja.

"Lloyd, if _you're_ involved, it must be bad news." I shot back, trying not to show my annoyance.

"So… How do you like Chelsea?" A boy at the end of the table blurted, which resulted in a slap on the back of the head by the girl next to him.

"What? Uh, like a person?" I answered, well more like asked.

"Uh-huh." One of the older girls dryly let out, a look of suspicion on her face.

"What's that look for? Don't believe me?"

"You just seem very... close. That's all." One blond child spoke up as he coated his pancakes in syrup.

"I'm not sure I follow?" I glossed over all the faces at the table, and everyone, even Zane, seemed to know what was going on.

"If you seriously don't get it by now, there must really be nothing there…" Another girl lamented, sighing as if she was suddenly robbed of a golden opportunity.

"Entitled piece of shit…" I almost didn't catch it, but it was there. Over the sound of clinking silverware and plates, over the smacking of food and over the quiet hum of early morning small talk, I heard Chet open his _motherfucking_ mouth. And all that anger and irritation I felt the night before came washing over me in waves.

"What the _fuck_ is your problem?!" I shouted, my fist coming down next to the poor ginger girl's glass. The kids' reactions were instantaneous. Some people gasped, some laughed, some gaped, and some exploded into conversation with the person next to them. Zane and Chet shot up from their seats simultaneously, causing the chaos to intensify. Chet's glare was only pouring gasoline over my fire, pissing me off more and more the longer I stared. Before anything could happen, though, my friend stepped in front of me and started moving me back out of the kitchen. I made a point to apologize to Lexi before moving though.

"Kai, what are you doing? He's a kid." Zane leaned against the door to the hall, isolating us from the group. He had his arms folded in front of his chest. His "I'm very disappointed in you" stature. No one liked that.

"A kid, my ass. He's only a couple of years younger than us. Besides, I know you heard what he said." I took a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down before I dropped Jay's food. Poor dude must've been starving by now.

"So, what is this really about?" He asked. The question took me aback. What does he mean? What else could this possibly be about? Chet was being a dick for no reason and was making an effort to piss me off.

"What?" Even I thought the question sounded kind of stupid after it fell from my lips. He only sighed in response.

"Nevermind. Go give Jay his food. I can hear his stomach rumbling from here." Zane stepped out into the living room and closed the door behind him. I could hear his footsteps softly ebb away as he headed back towards the kitchen. The sound bounced around in my head after the noise fell silent, slowly morphing into words. The same question echoed restlessly in my head over and over and over.

_"So, what is this really about?"_

What was this about? What _was_ this about? I don't even know why the little shit got to me so easily, but he did. It didn't really make sense to me, no matter how hard I tried to wrap my head around it. My head started throbbing thinking about it too much, so eventually I just gave up and went to deliver Jay his cold and kinda soggy breakfast. Laying on the floor next to him was Chelsea, seemingly in the middle of some big philosophical rant. Jay was still on his back just as I had left him minutes ago, eyes lifeless with exhaustion. When I came into their view, Jay jumped to life, startling both me and Chelsea.

"Breakfast!!" He took the plate without hesitation, scarfing it down with new unprecedented vigor. Chelsea looked slightly offended, scoffing at his lively behavior.

"You won't move to get away from my boring speech but you'll jump at breakfast? You know what, whatever. Twenty bucks is twenty bucks." Jay's only response was to horsley shout _"sustenance"_ before continuing to ravage his food. Chelsea chuckled at his childish behavior and stood, stretching, before making her way over to me and poking the tip of my nose with the tip of her finger, "What happened in the kitchen earlier?" She asked unamusingly. I could tell she was not happy in the slightest through her blank stare as she waited patiently for my answer. Her gaze was unmoving, pointed, while boring into the depths of my soul. It made me a little queasy to say the least.

Jay finished his plate, and it was like the half dead man from this morning never existed. The lightning disaster was jumping up to his feet, "Thanks so much, Kai! I have to get changed now, guys, so…" He awkwardly motioned to his door, waiting for us to leave. Chelsea wasted no time, gently wrapping her arm around mine and leading me into the hallway. I could hear Jay chuckling as he closed his door behind us, and it just added to my sour mood. Chelsea stopped right next door to her room and leaned against the door in the same fashion Zane had earlier today, crossed arms and all.

"What's going on, man? Why are you in such a bad mood?" Chelsea kept her blue eyes locked on mine. I could feel them hold their stance even after I turned away slightly, making a point to look at the ground. When I didn't answer, Chelsea sighed a bit sadly, "I really do get if you don't wanna talk to me, but talk to somebody. Please?" Physical contact seemed to be her go-to form of comfort because she was in front of me again, rubbing both of her hands against my upper arms in a soothing manner. "It's not healthy to bottle things up. Even the little things. Trust me, I know." Her whole face slightly drooped after saying that last sentence, a soft, reminiscent glow shining in her eyes. She tried stepping away, presumably to leave, but I grabbed her arm before I could stop myself and halted her movement. Her brows furrowed slightly in confusion as she gazed at me questionably. I was silent, nervous to spill my frustrations, but eventually finding the courage to do so.

"It's Chet." I started, "He's just such… such a…" My insult got caught in my throat as I stared down at someone who cared about the little bastard so much. I didn't want to offend her. The point of these two days were to cheer her up, not bring about drama.

Chelsea snorted softly at my struggle, "Kai, it's okay to not like every single person in that living room. As long as you're not being, like, disrespectful about it -- I guess -- I won't trip. You can openly complain about Chet." I immediately took her up on her offer.

 _"Douchebag!"_ I blurted out much louder than intended, startling Chelsea to take a few steps back. I continued, "He calls me things like privileged and entitled just because I _breathe_ next to you!" Before I realized it, I started pacing in a little circle, "It's crazy! It's insane! Just… _why???_ "

"Why… what?" Chelsea seemed a bit hesitant to ask. She was back against the wall, her hand placed uncomfortably on her arm.

"Well, why… why…" I stopped pacing to focus on the issue at hand. All of it kind of led back to Chelsea at the end of the day, didn't it? Why? What was so special about her? "Why you?" I ended up saying it without thinking and glanced at her to see if she'd be upset by my inquiry.

She seemed unfazed, a bit exasperated even, as she shrugged and sighed nonchalantly, "He's just kind of always been like that. Ever since we were really young, he'd seemed to have some sort of complex about me. It was something I never really had the courage to ask about."

"Wait, so you know about his… kind of attached behavior?"

Chelsea laughed a bit at my question, "Well, I mean, yeah. He's never really tried to hide it. He's…" She trailed off as her expression turned more towards the disturbed side, but she quickly shook it off and changed the subject, "I can ask him to chill if you need me to. After what happened in the kitchen, he'll probably try to start a fight to "assert dominance" as he likes to call it."

I groaned in annoyance, "Oh Christ… So, you know what happened?" I moved over to her door and sat against it. She quickly followed suit.

"I went to check it out when I heard the ruckus. Zane seemed to have everything under control though, so I decided not to intervene." She worried her lip softly before adding, "You know, I kind of miss the early morning madness and chaos that comes with those kids. Every day is an adventure, I tell ya. One time, Xander and Alex brought home a random ass pitbull on their way home from school. They called him _Charles_." She put a weird accent on the dog's name as she said it before falling into a fit of giggles, "They said it just like that, too. _Charles_." Her laughter only intensified when repeating the name. I always thought the way she laughed was kind of cute. She always made a point to cover up her smile with her hands and turn away from the person she was laughing with slightly. Suddenly, though, I wanted to see what she was hiding. I gently grasped her wrists and pulled them away from her face. She turned to me, visibly confused, but still too amused by her story to tuck her smile away.

She really was a sight to behold. Beautifully soft, pale skin, long, shining white hair, loving eyes, gorgeous smile. She was the whole package, really. It was strange how I was only now noticing just how gorgeous she really is. When she softly spoke my name, tone quiet as it echoed off the empty hall walls, it all clicked into place. I fucking liked her. Like, I had a _crush_ on her. All of the little things she did that made me smile, all the times I got annoyed when she was playful with any of the other ninja, even Chet's stupid arguments. That's why they all led back to her. She was what this was about.

The next thing I knew, one arm was against the doorframe and the other around her waist. I could feel her fingers tremble as they reached for my shirt before holding onto it like her life depended on it. Her almost inaudible gasp would've missed me if we were any farther apart, but we were right there, not even inches from each other now. For a moment, I hesitated. She seemed more scared than anything right now with me towering over her the way I was. Did she want this? Would she want this? I decided to not take any risks.

The motion of me pulling back was effectively stifled by Chelsea's hands as they dragged me forward forcibly. We were right back where we started, centimeters close and breathing in each other's bated breath. Then she made the final move, barely having to raise her head for it to gently graze mine. Our lips almost didn't touch. It almost didn't happen but it did. And it was enough to bring me back to life in the midst of dead silence. I pushed down more confidently onto her, repositioning the hand on the doorframe to gently slide it across her face. The way she leaned into the touch as a soft whine erupted from her throat sent jolts of electricity all through my body. I _relished_ in the way she slowly grazed her fingertips up from their place on my chest to my--

"Don't forget there are children here, guys." Jay's voice effectively dissipated the fog we encased ourselves in, and we broke apart as if each other's skin was made of fire. His maniacal chuckle reverberated through the empty hall as he opened and shut the door to the living room. Chelsea and I stayed silent as the memory of our kiss loomed thickly in the air around us.

"Jay's so fucking annoying sometimes, I swear…" I tried to break the tension with a joke, but Chelsea barely even chuckled as she hid her reddened face in her knees. "I-It doesn't have to mean anything. We can just--"

"How can it _not_ mean something? I know what it meant, Kai. I'd like to think I do, anyways... I'm just embarrassed we got caught. Give me a second to cool down." And so I gave her just that. She took a couple of deep breaths before slowly turning to face me again. Her expression only grew more flustered the more she turned towards me, but at the very least she didn't look away.

"What does this mean for us then?" Even now, I knew the answer, but I wanted to make sure we were on the same page and I wasn't doing some hopeful wishing.

"I.. I don't know. Don't people usually date and then kiss and stuff? I-I don't know. I've never done this before." She slowly got more comfortable again as she spoke, but I could see the new hint of embarrassment dust her cheeks. She's openly expressed how the idea of relationships makes her anxious and how she's not sure if she's ready for them in the past. It was one of the things she'd complain about before she came to us about her issues. To me, it always sounded like she really wanted a boyfriend, but was too afraid to go out and actually date. And now that we're here, I kind of get it. I've never really been in this type of situation either. I mean, sure, I've had my flings, but I've never wanted something to work out so much before.

"Do... you want to be my girlfriend?" It was foreign and so goddamn awkward of me to ask like that, but Chelsea's always been the type of person to get flustered easily; trying to be suave about this wouldn't help the situation at all.

She thought about it for a long while before finally asking, "Is that the next step??" You have to be kidding. There's no way she's that pure. I couldn't help but chuckle as she looked at me with innocent doe eyes, and I gently took her hands in mine.

"If you want it to be, yes. That's the next step." Somehow, those words seemed to be the ones she was looking for. Her eyes lit up in elation as a bright, honest smile graced her lips. She nodded happily before confirming that yes, she wanted to take the next step with me and resting on my shoulder.

"This day has been crazy, and it hasn't even really started yet." She sighed into my neck. Her breath tickling the skin sent shivers down my spine. I really had to stop; we just got together. Before I could respond, she stood and stretched, reaching out a hand to help me off the floor. I took it without hesitation as I pulled myself to my feet. Neither of us let go of the other as we headed towards the living room.

As we went over the possibilities of what the day could bring, our laughter echoed back to the end of the corridor and back to us. Chelsea opened the door for us before passing through with me right behind her. With one last look at the long darkened pathway, I closed the door behind me and looked into brightly lit living room with my brand new partner happily in tow.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've made it here, thank you so much for reading!! I really do hope this is good for some people... Please do tell me what you like and don't like. I'd like to know what people look for in a reading experience and be able to learn from people here too. Thanks so much again! Ok bai


End file.
